1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a V-belt assembly for transmitting power, and more particularly to a V-belt assembly suitably used for a continuously variable transmission.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While a rubber belt having a trapezoidal section for example is used for such a V-belt assembly, the rigidity (lateral rigidity) in the lateral direction, i.e. direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the belt is low so that the belt is buckled and deformed laterally when it is included in the V-belt wheel and thus unable to transmit a large power. Also, since the thickness of the belt, i.e. the distance between the upper bottom surface and the lower bottom surface is large, a small radius of curvature is difficult to obtain so that a drawback exists in the change gear ratio which cannot be obtained over a wide range.
Further, while a V-belt assembly consisting of an endless metal belt made of a plurality of laminated metal strips and a plurality of rigid transmission pieces is known per se from the Japanese Patent Publication Sho No. 55-6783, it is slidably mounted on the endless metal belt so that a frictional loss is produced and the efficiency of transmission is degraded disadvantageously. Also when the V-belt assembly is included in the V-belt wheels, surplus moment works to rotate the transmission pieces, bringing about a defect in that smooth power transmission from the V-belt wheel to the V-belt assembly is not to carried out.